updates

This Month’s Feature:

Walkabout is an annual nine-week health and wellbeing challenge that promotes regular exercise in social settings. Everyone at UBC is welcome to create teams of five or register as an individual. Cost is only $10 per person, and registration is now open. This is a great opportunity to achieve a personal or team fitness goal at the start of a new year! For more details, visit the UBC Walkabout website.

Other Events and Activities:

Sexual Assault Awareness Month is filled with events and messages that aim to raise awareness and understanding about sexual assault, and what we, as individuals and the UBC community, can do to help prevent it. Join the conversation and explore ways to become involved.

Participate in a Standing Desk Study

Many office workers spend a high proportion of their work day sitting, often in prolonged unbroken bouts. The Population Physical Activity Lab in the School of Kinesiology at UBC is conducting a workplace intervention aimed at reducing employee sitting time through the provision of a low-cost standing desk.

If you are interested in trying out a standing desk, aged 18-65 years old, and sit at a desk at least three days a week, then you are invited to participate.

This study involves wearing an activity monitor and completing a few surveys – three times over a six-month period. You will receive $60 for your participation and be offered the standing desk to keep.

It’s that wonderful time of the year when you can check out UBC Recreation classes – for free! Drop in for a fitness, yoga, Pilates, dance, martial arts, boot camp or aquatics class. No experience required. Try as many classes as you like, and register for your favourites!

Participate in an inspirational evening with Suquamish Elder and Master Basketmaker Ed Carriere and wet site archaeologist and ancient basketry researcher Dr. Dale R. Croes. Ed and Dale will present a richly illustrated talk about ancient basket making and invite visitors to interact with the ancient basket replicas they make.

This free symposium will provide opportunities to network and share research and resources related to teaching, learning and community building with a focus on first-year students at UBC. This event is supported by Student Development & Services, Irving K. Barber Learning Centre and the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology.

The Arts in Health Research community of practice aims to be a vibrant collegial space in which members share their work, engage with and learn from the approaches of others, discuss challenges and successes of their research, and explore emerging trends and innovations in arts-based methodologies. All researchers who are currently working at the intersection between the arts and health research are welcome to attend.

Reach out. Help is available. Reaching out early and preventing suicide requires everyone’s support. On Suicide Awareness Day, January 31, show your support for awareness and prevention. Visit ow.ly/bDae30gVnx4

On the first day of Move UBC month, you are invited to wear clothes that encourage you to move throughout your entire day. We want to see your lulu’s or your bright running shoes– anything that encourages you to move!

This month’s feature:

With the demands we all have on our time from teaching, work, research and family needs, UBC knows it’s not easy to hit the gym every day. There are lots of different ways you can exercise instead! Whatever you can fit into your day is a great start to get moving: long walks, short sprints, commuting by bike – but most importantly, getting up from your desk and sitting less is a great start.

Research shows that moving more and sitting less can improve your mental and physical health, which helps you feel good and reduces the risk factors for preventable diseases such as cancer, diabetes and mental illness.

Find out why it’s important to start tackling the ‘sitting disease’ and explore how you can stay committed to moving more with #MoveUBC this month and don’t forget to Wear Your Active Wear on February 28!

Join Dr. Eli Puterman, Assistant Professor in the School of Kinesiology, to explore the damaging impact chronic stress can have on the aging of our minds and bodies, deep into our cells, and learn how movement can mitigate these effects.

UBC staff, faculty and community members are invited to attend an open house! This interactive afternoon will include a tour of the new aquatic centre, games, free fitness classes, food, prizes, and an exclusive opportunity to register children for UBC Summer Camps. Click here for full details or email marc.addison@ubc.ca.

On the last day of MoveUBC, you are invited to wear clothes that encourage you to move throughout your entire day. We want to see your lulu’s or your bright running shoes– anything that encourages you to move! Leave behind those high heels, restrictive ties, skirts and tight pants that can keep you from maintaining your wellbeing!

Pick up a sticker at any of the MoveUBC events and sport it on February 28th to help explain why you’re in your active wear.

For those staff with required uniforms, safety clothing or shoes/boots, we encourage you to have a discussion with your supervisors and colleagues to see how you might be able to adapt these requirements, so that you can move easily throughout your day, while still maintaining safety protocol and professionalism.

In Peace Dancer, Vickers shares the Legend from his village of Kitkatla, BC; it is the story of The Flood. Sharing this story is more relevant to the world right now than ever before. Click here to register.

Our Health and Wellbeing team has been keeping busy over the spring and summer. Check out some of our updates and photos below.

Pick Your Peak Stair Challenge 2016

We had over 460 staff and faculty participate this year-our biggest group ever!

Melissa and Miranda on the Wreck Beach stairs

The total stairs climbed by all participants was equal to 567,117 metres (over 567km!). We collectively climbed Mount Everest 64 times! A huge thank you to all of our corporate health and fitness discount partners for prizes and a big congratulations to all participants. Click here to see challenge photos and video.

Mental Health First Aid at UBC

We are excited to announce that two of our UBC HR team members (at both our Vancouver and Okanagan campuses) are now trained as Mental Health First Aid facilitators by the Mental Health Commission of Canada. This means that Mental Health First Aid training will be more widely available for staff, faculty and students. Click here for more information about Mental Health First Aid.

Mental Health First Aid training booklet

Canadian Universities and Colleges Community of Practice Conference

In June, a group of 40 health promotion and disability management professionals from post-secondary institutions across Canada met UBC Okanagan for a community of practice conference. There was solid representation from UBC HR in the crowd and it was a great opportunity to share ideas, present on new ideas and to highlight important initiatives. It was also a great chance to check out the Okanagan campus!

UBC Okanagan Campus

UBC Events Professional Network Meeting (Botanical Gardens)

Our Health and Wellbeing team, along with members from the Workplace Learning and Engagement unit, attended and presented at the summer meeting of the UBC Event Professionals Network to promote professional development opportunities on campus.

All participants were then treated to a sun-filled, educational tour of the botanical gardens.

UBC Botanical Gardens

If you are interested in being a part of the Events Professionals Network, please email helen.gabor@ubc.ca.

Mindfulness in the news

Have you noticed that mindfulness has been in the news lately? We are so excited that the CBC recently profiled the work that UBC Human Resources has been doing with the Sauder School of Business and Mindwell Canada.